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spelling bee

See more synonyms for spelling bee on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a spelling competition won by the individual or team spelling the greatest number of words correctly; spelldown.
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Origin of spelling bee

First recorded in 1870–75
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for spelling bee

spelldown

Examples from the Web for spelling bee

Contemporary Examples of spelling bee

Historical Examples of spelling bee

  • He had not returned to his home after the spelling-bee, nor had he been seen since.

    The Daughter of Anderson Crow

    George Barr McCutcheon

  • There was a spelling-bee every Friday afternoon, for Sam the only endurable event of the school exercises.

  • Rosalie did not know that the teacher was to leave Tinkletown surreptitiously until after the spelling-bee.

    The Daughter of Anderson Crow

    George Barr McCutcheon

  • It had a good deal the look of a spelling-bee with a teacher who meant to stand no nonsense.

    The Huntress

    Hulbert Footner

British Dictionary definitions for spelling bee

spelling bee

noun
  1. a contest in which players are required to spell words according to orthographic conventions
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Word Origin for spelling bee

C19: from bee ²
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012